Decorative edging for luggage



March 3, 1959 FRIEDMAN DECORATIVE EDGING FOR LUGGAGE Filed July 23, 1958 F, 6. 2 INVENTOR.

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2,875,869 DECORATIVE EDGING non LUGGAGE Lawrence Friedman, Ossining, N. Y. Application July 23, 1958, Serial No. 750,380

2 Claims. (Cl. 190-44 This invention relates to luggage and aims to provide a decorative edging therefor, which is pleasing in appearance, which is sturdy, and which is highly resistant to wear.

Inexpensive luggage is conventionally made of a base material which gives the desired rigidity to the article, and a piece of leather split, or of coated fabric, embossed in imitation of leather, is laminated thereto for appearance and wear. In the combination of bottom sections of such luggage with side sections, a raw edge of the overlapping section must be covered and bound, both for appearance and wear. This is generally done by covering the raw edge with a heading strip, and then securing the heading strip and the two pieces of the case together, as by adhesive, by sewing, or by riveting. Sometimes these beading strips are designed to act as buffers, by doubling over one of the edges which are being attached to each other. However, there has always been a problem in making the in getting edges which wear well.

One of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide a beaded edging for covering the raw edges where two parts of a piece of luggage are being attached, which is easy to attach and which is of exceptionally pleasing appearance. Another object of the invention is to provide a heading strip with unusually good resistance to shock, abrasion, and wear. Still another object of the invention is to provide an edging which appears to be of metal, but which gives much improved resistance to abrasion and atmospheric deterioration as compared with a simple metal binder. Another object of the invention is to provide a heading strip which also acts as a buffer for the luggage.

These and other objects of the invention are obtained, in accordance with this invention, by inserting over the raw edge of one part of a piece of luggage, to be fastened to another piece of luggage, the loop of a J-shaped piece of relatively rigid plastic, having a sheet of metal foil embedded within at least the short leg of the J, with the long leg of the J between the two pieces and the short leg outside of the outer piece, and thereafter joining the two pieces of the case and the long end of the J by securing means attached above the short end of the J, going through the piece with the raw edge, the long leg of the J and the second piece to which the first piece is to be'secured. This most simply done by sewing the pieces together.

The invention may best be understood by reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a case made in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a section through the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, a piece of luggage in accordance with this invention comprises a cylindrical body 10, a base 12, and a lid 14 having a cylindrical portion 16 attached to the base 10by a slide fastener 18, and a top 20 attached to the cylindrical portion 16 of the lid United States Patent 7 edges look attractive, and

may be done by riveting, but is 2,875,869 Patented Mar. 3, 1959 ice 14 in the same manner that the bottom 12 is attached to the body 10. A carrying handle 22 is attached to the body 10.-

As shown in Figure 2, the body 10 and (similarly the cylindrical portion-16 of the lid) comprises a cardboard base 24. A fabric lining 26 is attached, as by adhesive, so as to cover the inside of the cardboard base 24. The outside of the base 24 has laminated thereto a covering '28 of artificial leather," i. e. fabric coated with plastic coating composition and grained to simulate leather. Alternatively this covering 28 may be a leather split similarly laminated to the base. The bottom of the body 10 is protected by a U-shaped piece of plastic 30 which is secured to the body 10 by a row of stitching 32.

The bottom 12 of the case similarly comprises a base piece 34 which may be of relatively stiff fabric such as resin impregnated cambric, or of any other desired material. Laminated to it is a covering piece 36 which may be the same material as is used for the covering 28, or may be a material of similar nature but of contrasting color. The piece 12 is upended so that a stub portion 38 thereof overlaps the bottom of the body 10 leaving a raw edge 40 which must be covered.

According to the instant invention, there is inserted over the raw edge 40 a J-shaped piece of heavy plastic 42 of such nature and thickness as to be substantially rigid. Satisfactory plastics for the purpose include cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate-butyrate, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, and the like. Preferably the material is about a tenth of an inch in thickness at the end of the long leg 44 of the J, tapering somewhat and having a rounded edge at the end of the short leg 46 of the J. However, the thickness can be varied, provided the J-shaped piece resulting from forming the material into a J is subsequently rigid and self-supporting. Embedded in the plastic so as to cover the short end of the J is a piece of metal foil 50, preferably aluminum foil. Most preferably, the metal foil is sandwiched between two layers of transparent plastic. However, the plastic below the metal need not be transparent; only that above it need be, so that the metal is visible. The piece 42 is attached by slipping the long leg 44 of the J between the body 10 and the upended stub 38 of the base 12, slipping the short leg 46 of the J over the raw edge 40 of the stub, and then sewing together with stitching 48 the stub 38, the long leg 44 of the J, and the base 10.

The raw edge between the cylindrical portion 16 of the lid, and the top 20, is covered in exactly the same manner. Q

It will be noted that by stitching above the short leg of the J, the rigid short edge stands out somewhat to act as a buffer for the article. Its rigidity insures hiding of the raw edge. The metal embedded in the plastic is undisturbed by stitching, so that it gives the illusion of a metal binding, along with the superior resiliency of the rigid plastic. And the embedding of the metal in the plastic ensures that the metal will not be discolored, scratched, or removed by abrasion.

overlapping sheets of material, and means for uniting the sheetsto hide-theraw edge ofthe outside overlapped sheet, comprising a J-shaped piece of rigid plastic embracing the raw edge between the legs of the J with the long end of the J between the -sheets'and the short end of the J outside of the assembly, and means for attaching together the two sheets and the long end of the J-shaped piece above the short end of the J.

2 An article of luggage composed of a plurality of overlapping sheets of material, and meanstor uniting the sheets while hiding the raw edge of the outside overlapped sheet, comprising a J-shaped piece of rigid plastic embracing the raw edge between the legs of the 1! with the long end of the J between-the sheets and the short end of the J outside of the -assembly, the plastic piece having embedded therein a sheet of metal foil covering at least A. the short leg of the J and itself covered by transparent plastic forming at least .a portion of the plastic piece, and

means for attaching together the two sheets and the long end of the J-shaped piece above the short end of the J whereby the short end of the J presents the appearance of an unbroken metallic edging.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

